5 meals I eat each week

Did you see what happened at 0:44? Sooo here’s the thing: I like to take strategic bites of my oatmeal, getting a bit of each topping onto the spoon, but sir Robin just mixes everything together from the get-go. Whaaa!? I think he’s a bit crazy… but maybe I’m the one that’s crazy? Which camp are you in? Strategic bites, or the mix-and-swirl?

What I eat in a day, and in a week, it always varies but I’ve been noticing lately that there’s a few recurrences in our meal choices. So in today’s video, I was hoping to share with you five different meal ideas that we commonly enjoy each week. Two of them are breakfast, there’s one lunch, and there’s two dinner recipes The breakdown to all of the recipes, as usual, can be found on the blog I’ll leave those links for you in the description And I also wanted to take a brief moment to thank Wix for sponsoring todays video. Wix is the amazing platform that we use to create the Pick Up Limes website I’m gonna speak more about them at the end, but for now let’s dive in. 

In these colder fall and winter months, Robin and I go for the good old comforting and wholesome oatmeal I know I’ve shared something like this before, so I’ll keep it brief  it’s just, this is genuinely what we enjoy most days of the week Now I used to be someone who didn’t really like oatmeal, to be honest until my cousin shared some tips with me that made all the difference for example, I now cook it in plant milk instead of just water it makes it more creamy and flavorful I also like to add some flax seeds. It helps it to stick together a bit more nicely and also offer some beneficial omega 3 fats. And the best part, I think is cutting up a banana in it while its cooking cause the banana starts to kind of caramelize and dissolve making the oatmeal naturally sweet and creamy the other thing that makes this oatmeal amazing is the stewed frozen berries that we add to the top along with some kind of nut butter like hazelnut, or almond or peanut butter and we always like to sprinkle on top some pumpkin seeds and chia seeds too so like I said, this is literally our breakfast most days of the week and we also like to enjoy it with a cup of tea.

As for the weekend, I mean what’s a weekend without some pancakes, right?

And this is a super wholesome recipe that we eat either on Saturday or Sunday morning, sometimes both. I like to use buckwheat flour because it’s made from a seed. Which also means it’s a more nutrient dense alternative to white flour.

So how you make it is pretty simple. I first mash two very ripe bananas until it’s as mashed as I can make it and then I add about a tablespoon of ground flax seeds and three quarters of a cup of plant based milk. Then I mix it all together before adding a cup of buckwheat flour, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. I then mix it all together until I get this pancake batter consistency and to a non-stick pan on medium heat, I add some coconut oil and then spoon on top some of the batter using the back of my spoon to shape them into little discs. When the bottom is golden, I give it a flip and that’s pretty much it. 

For the sake of this video, I did the classic, good old, stacking the pancakes on top of each other, but in reality, we just lay them flat, we top them with some peanut butter or some homemade vegan nutella. I’ll leave that recipe for you below as well. And we top it with some berries More often we actually go for stewed berries, again, it’s just easier to find in these colder months and if you didn’t drizzle on any syrup, did you even make pancakes? (chuckles) But in all honesty, this was just for fun. We usually don’t add any to our pancakes. I find it sweet enough, especially with those berries but Robin likes to top his with some Hagel slag which is a very Dutch thing. Its these chocolate sprinkles that some Dutch people like to have on toast for breakfast.

Lunch is usually either leftover dinner or these sandwiches, so while I make oatmeal in the morning, Robin is whipping these together for us, for our lunch. It’s pretty straightforward and insanely delicious. It’s some whole grain bread that’s been toasted and then we spread on top of it some hummus, either store bought or homemade, and then dice up a ripe avocado that we put on top of that. We also cut cherry tomatoes in half, dice up some cucumbers, and also add on some pickled jalapenos that came from a jar and if we have it on hand, well also add some chives or green onions. Then we load it up on the arugula, a lot. And on the other slice of bread, we either add some chili sauce or the store bought vegan honey mustard and that’s it! I’ve had this for lunch at least a few times each week for the last two years and I have yet to get sick of it. Its seriously the best. 

Some nights I make dinner and some nights Robin does, so I’ll start with sharing my default, which is always some kind of curry. I find them incredibly comforting, whether its Thai or afghan or Indian inspired curries. So this one is a creamy cauliflower and lentil curry. To start it up, I bake some cauliflower which you can always do on a meal prep night too, if you wanna speed things up. So just break it up into little bite sized pieces, drizzle on a bit of oil, and give it a toss before adding a teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, half a teaspoon of paprika powder and a small sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then toss it again and bake it in the oven at 210 C or 400 F for about 40 minutes or until it’s a bit crispy and golden.

For the curry itself, you’re going to need one yellow onion diced, and three cloves of garlic crushed. To a pot on medium heat, were going to add a bit of oil and the onion, sautéing until the onions are lightly golden. Then were gonna add the crushed garlic and a whole lot of spices. A tablespoon of curry powder, half a tablespoon each of garam masala and turmeric, and a teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, and salt. Then stir it until its fragrant, so about one minute, and all of these spices are optional so just use whatever you have on hand. 

Well then add a can of diced tomatoes, then give it a stir, and let this cook for about five minutes. If I have it on hand, I like to add a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes. It gives such a little burst of flavor when you bite into it. Well also add a can of coconut milk and the roasted cauliflower. Stir it up before you add in some cooked lentils. And finally well add a big handful of spinach. Give it a stir and let it all heat through and serve it warm with some naan or in this case some brown rice.

It’s so incredibly hearty and filling, warm and comforting. Of course, the link to this one is gonna be in the description box below but I’m also gonna leave the links to some of our other curry recipes, in case you’re interested. Now onto the dinner that Robin loves to make. Robin is part Dutch, part Portuguese, part indonesian and when it comes to food, the Indonesian side of him always wins. He loves anything with rice, noodles, and some form of stir fry so this recipe is his specialty and my absolute favorite. For this, you’re gonna need two red onions, diced and four cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. We’re gonna add it to a pan on medium high heat with some oil and let it cook for about five minutes. Robin is also a fan of the mock meats so for this he uses a plant based soy product that resembles chicken. 

We just break it apart into smaller pieces and then add it to the onion and garlic mixture, letting it cook also for five minutes. Meanwhile were gonna wash and then cut the ends off of four big handfuls of green beans and then were gonna cut those in half. Its seriously a lot of green beans so this is wonderfully nutritious. When everything in the pan is nice and golden were gonna transfer it to a bowl, set it aside, and in the same pan we’re gonna add those green beans and also a cup of water, place the lid on it, and let it steam for about five minutes.

Meanwhile, were gonna dice up two medium red bell peppers and add this to the pan as well, again, letting it sit for another five minutes. Then were gonna make the peanut sauce. For this you’re going to need half a cup of pure peanut butter, a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of raw sugar, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and the juice from half a lime. Then blend it up in the food processor until its creamy and smooth and when the veggies are cooked to your liking, drain off any excess water, leaving about a tablespoon or two of liquid in the pan. To the pan, were then going to add back in the onion mixture and about a quarter cup of diced sun dried tomatoes that were in oil. And I know this sounds like a really strange addition to a stir fry, I thought so too when I first saw Robin doing it, but trust me, it’s amazing. So add that to the pan, were also going to add two teaspoons of sambal hot sauce and a third a cup of sodium reduced soy sauce.

Mix it all together until its heated through and serve it on a bed of rice or noodles. Top it with the peanut mixture and that’s it. Robins version of an Indonesian gado so intensely full of flavors. I can’t wait for you guys to try this one. So now you’ve gotten a bit of a glimpse into some of the meals that we enjoy each week, but because were also making new recipes for the blog, everything else that we eat really varies. But if you’re ever looking for more inspiration and meal ideas, I welcome you to check out the Pick Up Limes website and speaking of which, I ,again, wanted to thank Wix for partnering with us on today’s video. Wix is the platform that we actually use to create the Pick Up Limes website.

And I chose to use them from the very beginning because I have no experience in web development or coding but with WIx, you don’t need any of that. You can create an incredibly professionally looking website all on your own and you have total creative freedom. So they provide these templates that you can plop your pictures and your videos into, but you can also customize them however you like. And if I can be honest, another reason I tried Wix is because it’ completely free to try and that’s something that I really appreciated as somebody that was new to blogging and I just didn’t know what I could commit to just yet. So if you’ve ever been interested in creating your own website that looks professional, but you don’t know where to begin, I definitely recommend Wix, again, it’s completely free to try, so I’m gonna leave that link for you in the description box below. So now I’ve shared a few meal ideas, things that we enjoy each week. Now it’s your turn. What are two or three of your go-to meals that you enjoy. I’ll see those in the comments I’ll see you guys down there. 

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FOODS